Mike C Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Howdy all, I havent been on in a while as the shop is too hot to work in in the summer where I live. Here are my latest spurs, one piece made from 5/8 sucker rod. Jigs sure make life easier. I did try to blue them in my kitchen oven and succeeded in making the brass gee-gaws fall off or move. I would like the color but am not sure what temperature or time to put them in. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Temper colors are going to be too hot for brass I think. Try some Birchwood Casey cold blueing instead. Steel generally is a poor candidate for heat patinas IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I meant to add that I will usually hot brush with a brass or bronze brush when I wish to heat patina steel. That gives you much more potential. Brass is easy but Bronze likes a narrow heat range for hot brushing and I think it is around 400 degrees fahrenheit. I think that surface colors might have short lives on working spurs though... they can take a lot of wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 I'm not sure what Birchwood Casey cold blueing looks like but I'm trying to avoid the gun metal look. Garcia spurs have a very "blue" look. This is whay I am trying to achieve. A difference is that they inlay silver, I am silver soldering the brass. I'm not that advanced in my spurmaking. Working spurs usually end up with silver and rust, the 4140 of the sucker rod will not rust as bad or as fast. Thamnks for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Creek Blacksmith Posted November 18, 2011 Share Posted November 18, 2011 They look good to me, I'm going to be making my first pair of spurs pretty quick since I have to have them done by Christmas. I also got to make a gutiar stand these are all for my son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted November 19, 2011 Share Posted November 19, 2011 One of my mentors, Vistor Vera, was originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He told me the following about blueing, but I haven't tried it. He said it was used on lock parts and keys. In his dad's shop, they would put the scale-free pieces in a box of sand, deep enough to just cover the pieces. The box was given a slow rising heat over the forge fire, and every now and then, they'd take a peek to see what color was appearing. They'd go through the heat rainbow until full blue was reached and quickly quench the pieces in oil. The blue tempering color is 560ºF. Would that temperature undo your solder? Since I haven't tried this, it would be a matter of experimentation with test pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted November 19, 2011 Author Share Posted November 19, 2011 Frank, I am open to new (or old) ideas. The silver solder I'm using ran at just below 550o. I am going to use a higher temp silver solder as well as your method. I will still use my kitchen oven as that is as close to an exact heat as I can get. The goal is as perfect as an even heat as I can get. I still want to learn how to mortice and tenon the band to the shank but I need to make a monkey tool. Oh the projects. Maybe I should stick to one thing to perfect what I already do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkmas Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 must be rough on the bedsheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Yeah, the mortise/tenon is old school. The tenon is going to be square in cross section. The fit has to be exact with careful filing. The inside of the heel band hole (mortise) must be countersunk, also done with files. The shank can be held in the vise with a sandwich of sole leather around it to protect it. After peening up, the resulting bulge needs to be sanded down and burnished. Do you have Robert Hall, "How to Make Bits and Spurs"? It's an excellent book. dealoz.com has 3 copies presently. Also, try tuning in to http://www.bitsandsp...freeforums.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike C Posted November 22, 2011 Author Share Posted November 22, 2011 I do have that book, it is a good one. I made a pitchfork bit with a halfbreed spade bud curved it the wrong way and didn't realize it until I finished it. Hat a disappointment. The pin for the roller, I welded in so I couldn't re-heat it. Pitchforks are fairly high carbon, I didn't know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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